Many people co-operated to catch a suspect

I would like to thank all of the people who helped in the arrest of the person suspected of stealing a silver sculpture from Toh-Atin Gallery in October. It really is a story of people working together.

The day after the theft, we were able to isolate the incident on our security cameras. A Durango police officer was there to make copies and get them to the department detectives. We emailed digital photos of the suspect and information on the theft to all of the art dealers and pawn shops within 100 miles. The Durango Business Improvement District forwarded the email to all of their contacts. The Durango Herald picked up the information and published a story about the theft, which the Farmington Times picked up and ran.

Within a day, we had received four calls from people as far away as Flagstaff who recognized the suspect. The Durango Police Department also received calls. One person recognized the person from a poster we had in the gallery and offered to identify the suspect for the police.

The suspect was arrested, told the Durango detective where the piece had been sold and the Durango detective was able to retrieve the stolen merchandise from the pawn shop that had it. The suspect will be charged this next week in connection with the theft.

It took a lot of people who were willing to offer their assistance and a great deal of persistence by the Durango Police Department, working with the Farmington Police Department to bring this to a good conclusion. While it certainly was not a life-and-death situation, theft hurts everyone in a community. By working together and making every effort to publicize these incidents, people can make a difference.